Brother
by ninjanervana
Summary: A year by year look at the friendship between James Potter and Sirius Black. How two boys became friends and then became brothers. Inspired by Brother by Needtobreathe
1. First Year

Ninjanervana, don't you have another story to update? Yes, yes I do. I have a problem with stories honestly. But I was listening to _Brother by Needtobreathe_ and it gave me so many Sirius and James feelings that I had to write this. I'm planning on doing at least 7 chapters, one for every year of Hogwarts. I will get back to my other story too, I promise. Hope you all enjoy this one!

-ninjanervana

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 **First Year**

James peered excitedly out the train window as the landscape whipped by, his palms pressed against the cool glass. He thought his heart was going to escape his chest when he first saw the massive black and red train, his eyes widening in amazement behind his glasses. Now that he was actually _on_ the train, he was pretty sure his heart was going to give out. After years and years of hearing stories from his parents, he was finally on his way to Hogwarts. He had been dreaming of this day as long as he could remember, always knew he'd get to go one day. After all, his family was one of the oldest magical families in history; there was no way he _wouldn't_ get to go to Hogwarts. The only problem was actually getting there. The train had only left the station twenty minutes earlier and while James was excited to be _going_ , he wanted to be _there_ already.

Sighing quietly in impatience, James slumped momentarily in his seat, looking around at his empty compartment. He had been hoping to make some friends on the train ride -he didn't have many friends his own age, didn't have many friends period- but so far, no one had opened the compartment door to sit with him. _'People are still moving around,'_ he reminded himself, catching a glimpse of people walking around the hall. ' _It's still a long train ride and I'll be around kids all the time now. And I'm used to being alone,' he_ thought, trying to brush off his nervousness as he turned back to the window _. 'Someone will come.'_

As if the universe heard his thoughts, the compartment door slid open with a bang, a dark-haired boy quickly darting inside before hastily shutting the door behind him. He glanced through the window into the hall before crouching below it. James was so taken aback by the boy's entrance that all he could do was stare at him, no words coming to mind. Thankfully his staring went unnoticed -he could hear his mum scolding him, telling him that it was rude to stare- as the boy's eyes darted around the room, passing over James twice before settling on the luggage rack above the seats.

"Gimme a boost," the boy squeaked out, rushing toward James.

"What?" he answered in surprise, his hazel eyes widening behind his glasses.

The dark-haired boy looked over his shoulder quickly at the compartment door before turning back to James. "A boost, a boost," he repeated frantically, flapping his hands. "I can't climb into the luggage rack alone. I need a boost. Fast."

Nodding jerkily, James crouched on seat, his fingers lacing together for the boy to put his foot in. He didn't even bother asking why he needed a boost into the luggage rack. Judging by the terrified looks he kept shooting at the door, James didn't think he had much time to answer questions before something happened.

With a soft grunt and a bit of pushing from James, the boy clambered into the luggage rack, barely having time to conceal himself behind James's trunk before the compartment door was thrown open.

James clapped a hand over his nose as a foul odor filled the compartment, clearly coming from the three large boys standing in the door way. Three large _angry_ older boys. He had spent enough time in joke shops and set enough of them off at family functions to know exactly what caused that kind of stench. Dungbombs.

"You seen a skinny, black haired kid around?" one of the boys asked, his cheeks flushed from anger.

"N-no," James stuttered as he shook his head. "It's ju-just me in here. Just me."

"Bloody first years," another boy muttered in disgust. "Come on, maybe he's gone further down the train."

As the compartment door slid shut again, James jumped up to open the window, desperate to air out the smell. "Thanks for not ratting me out," the boy called from above him, his legs dangling over the end of the rack as he slowly climbed down onto the seats. He looked much calmer than when he first rushed in, though James had to admit he would be freaking out too if he had those three after him. "Pretty sure they would have thrown me out the train window."

"No worries," James answered easily as he sat across from him. He hesitated a moment before speaking again. "Dungbombs?"

The boy grinned mischievously, shrugging his shoulders as if he wasn't panicked and hiding minutes ago. "They said some things I didn't agree with. Besides they're from Slytherin so it's alright. And now I know my heart won't give out any time soon so that's good."

James laughed, running his hand through his hair. He had hoped to have someone to spend the train ride with and he was pretty confident he got the most entertaining person on the entire train. "You're absolutely mad. I'm James Potter," he introduced himself, offering his hand.

"Sirius Black," the boy replied, shaking his hand. "Nice to meet you."

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Reviews please!


	2. Second Year

**Second Year**

"Alright, night everyone," twelve year old Sirius said happily as the portrait hole swung shut behind him, closing on the smiling faces of the house elves as they called out their goodbyes and the warm glow of the kitchen. He had come across the passage to the kitchen accidentally one evening and liked to sneak down sometimes for a quick snack before bed. The food was always good and the House elves always seemed happy to make something for him, even when he insisted he was fine with leftovers.

Sirius liked the Hogwarts house elves much more than the ones at home. The Hogwarts elves were always kind and helpful; the ones at home were nasty and cold, always muttering awful things under their breath. Especially Kreacher. Sirius felt a shudder pass over him as he thought of the mean house elf, constantly muttering that Sirius was a stain on the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, that his mother, Walburga, would be better off getting rid of him instead of having him taint the family's name. _'Hard to taint something that's already filthy,'_ he thought bitterly before shaking his head, forcing his thoughts away. He wasn't going to let stupid thoughts ruin his mood.

Squaring his shoulders, he headed down the empty corridors, his hands shoved into the pockets of his robes. It was just after curfew, but he wasn't worried about running into any prefects or professors. He could usually talk his way out of trouble with the prefects, especially the Gryffindor ones, and even some of the professors as well. Of course if he ran into McGonagall or Filch, well that would be a different story altogether. Still, the worst punishment he would get would be a night or two in detention; he and James had gotten a worse punishment for flooding the corridor that led to the Slytherin common room. He snickered at the memory of those awful snakes in their half soaked robes and the less than pleased face of Professor Slughorn. It was one of their early pranks, but he still thought it was one of the best.

His steps slowed as he approached the next corridor as he heard voices, too far away to make out words but he could definitely tell there were more than two people. It was probably just a group of students who were caught out of bed after hours and were getting lectured by someone, nothing unusual. He and the lads had been on the receiving end of that lecture so many times, they could recite it back to the professors. The smart decision would have been to go back and find another route back to Gryffindor Tower, but Remus always said Sirius's curiosity would be the end of him. Creeping forward silently, he pressed himself against the wall as he got closer, his hand gripping his wand. He hadn't personally seen any, but he heard that older students sometimes had duels at night when there were no teachers around. Dueling was strictly forbidden outside of Defense Against Dark Arts class.

"Two against one, Potter; your odds aren't looking good," a voice sneered, followed by another person's laughter.

' _James,'_ Sirius thought in surprise, his eyebrows raised as he cautiously peeked his head around the corner. He knew there was only one Potter in the entire school, but he had to make sure. The unruly black hair and gangly form was unmistakable to Sirius. His gaze shifted to the two boys he faced, Slytherin by their uniforms; he wasn't sure, but he thought they were in the year ahead of them. _'Bloody hell, what have you gotten into?'_

"Normally, I'd agree, but since it's the two of you and you both share the same half a brain, I think my odds are looking pretty good," James shot back. His body looked relaxed - Sirius could even imagine the smirk that James wore when he outsmarted someone - but he could see the tension in his right arm, could picture his hand gripped around the mahogany wand.

The Slytherin boys' faces turned red at his words as they whipped out their wands. "We'll show you," the shorter of the boys spat, his wand pointed at James. " _Locomotor mortis_!"

" _Protego_!" Sirius shouted as he swung around the corner, casting the shield charm in front of James. James spun around at the sound of his voice, a relieved smile on his lips. The jinx rebounded off the shield, slamming against the wall with a loud crack. The sound unfortunately woke the paintings that lined the corridor, their voices straining above one another as they demanded to know who was in the darkened corridor making such a racket, did they have any idea what time it was, what were they doing out of bed at that hour. The cacophony of voices distracted the students from their potential duel long enough to hear Filch's shouts and heavy foots steps as he rushed in their direction.

"Oh shit," James muttered, looking at Sirius before turning back to the Slytherin boys. " _Locomotor wibbly_ ," he said quickly as he pointed his wand at the boys, snickering as their legs crumpled beneath them.

Sirius laughed loudly, his head tossed back. "Better them than us," he commented as he shoved his wand into his pocket. "Come on or it'll be us too."

He and James raced down the opposite corridor, eager to put space between themselves and Filch's shouts. It was only when they collapsed onto the couch in the common room, panting from running all the way back to the tower and laughing over the night's events, that they were finally able to speak. "What were you doing out there anyway?" Sirius asked curiously. "Don't imagine you went looking for snakes to fight."

"Went looking for you," James answered easily, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "You were gone a while and it was close to curfew. Didn't know if you got tangled up in any trouble."

Sirius smiled gratefully at him; James was always looking out for them. "Coulda been snogging a bird in one of the empty broom closets," he joked.

"Then I woulda left you to it if you could actually find a girl to snog you," James laughed. "Detention better be worth it."

Sirius laughed with him, his head resting against the back of the couch. He had a stomach full of food, a warm place to rest, and a best friend who cared about him. Life couldn't get better than that. "Thanks for having my back, mate," he said seriously as their laughter died down, raising his fist to James.

"Always," James replied, bumping his fist against Sirius's. "Always."

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Reviews please!


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